Car-seal.



No. 663,070. Patented Dec. 4, |900.

T. FILDES. Y

` GAR SEAL (Appleltion led Apr. 20, 1899.)

UNITED STATES PATENT EFICE.

THOMAS EILDES, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-S EAL.

sPEoIEIcATIoIv forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,070, dated December 4, 1900. Application filed April 20, 17899. Serial N0- 7l3,'731. (No model.)

T0 all whom it may cori/cern.-

Beit known that I, THOMAS FILDES, a citien of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Seals, of which the following is a description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference-letters indicate like or corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a plan View of the principal blank of the seal in the preferred form. Fig. 2 is an edge View of the same, showing in full and dot lines the shape of the same when formed up. Fig. 3 is a plan View of the blank for the box covering the ends of the seal when locked, dot-lines showing the position of the principal blank permanently secured in the box. Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are sectional views showing the relation of the several parts at various steps in the act of locking.` Fig. 8 is a transverse section in the line 8 S of Fig. 7. Figs. 9 and 10 are perspective views of the ends Oi the principal or tongue blank when completed ready for attachment to the box-blank. Fig. 11 is a perspective viewof a complete seal of the preferred form locked. Fig. 12 is a modified form, in partial section, to show the oonstruction; and Fig. 13 is a perspective plan viewof the blank of which said modified form is composed.

Car-seals are employed to prevent unauthorized persons tampering with the carlocks without leaving evidence of their acts to the authorities having the cars in charge. For this purpose the seal should be so constructed that when once locked it cannot be unlocked or picked without so injuring it or changing its appearance as to make the fact very apparent.

Large numbers of car-seals are used annually, and consequently economy of lconstruction is an important feature.

The object of my invention is to embody the above features in a seal of simple and economical construction.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction of the parts, as well as their combination, herein shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A represents a strip of metalhaving at one end a tongue ct, stamped and bent outward from the body, as shown. The extreme end of the strip is also bent over in the same direction, as shown at a', Fig. 2, the two forminghooks or tongues extending in substantially the same direction. At'the opposite end of the blank in the preferred construction means are provided for engaging both the hooks ct a' with the blank. For this purpose when the seal is properly engaged the hook ct' engages with the end d2, while the hook a engages with the edge of an aperture a3, constructed for that purpose. The blank B is so construct-ed that it maybe bent up to form a box or socket covering the ends of the strip A when they are properly connected. When thus formed, the end a2 is secured at a distance from its extreme end to the box B in any preferred manner, as by solder. The free extremity of the end a2 is bent toward the opposite side of the box to form a spring. (See Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7.)

The mode of operation is plainly shown in the four figures last referred to. The free end of the strip A is inserted, as shown in Fig. 4:, compressing the spring a2, as shown in Fig. 5. Finally the hooks a a pass by the end o? and the edge of the aperture a3, the spring action of' the parts causing the hooks to lie in a diiferent plane from the free end a2, as shown in Fig. 6, when upon pulling the free end of the strip backward the parts assume a position shown in Fig. 7, the two hooks acting in the preferred form as a double lock, as shown. It will be at once apparent that upon attempting to insert an instrument to pick the lock of the sealthe instrument will contact with the hook a, which will prevent it from in anyway interfering with the principal lock a. Vhen properly constructed, the parts fit so snugly within the box B that very little room is afforded for the insertion of an instrument for that purpose.

In the modified form (shown in Figs. 12 and 13) the entire seal is composed from a single blank C. In this form the end o, having formed therein an aperture o', is bent inward upon the body of the blank, asshown in Fig. 12, when the wings D D are bent in proper form to inclose the bent end and form the box or socket, as before, the rear endot the box being turned down and soldered or oth- IOO erwise secured, as shown at d, Fig. 12. The operation is the same as beforev with the exception that the free end of the strip enters the box from the opposite side of that shown in the preceding figures.

As an additional precaution I preferto place a mark of some character-as, for example, the letter X in Fig. ll-u pon the free end of the blank at a point that will be close to the box, but external thereto when the parts are properly locked. If now for any reason the seal is Wrenched open, breaking offthe hooks a a or the end c c', and after bending new hooks the parts are again engaged, the char.

acter X will be hid from View, notifying the person in charge that the seal has been tampered with.

If preferred, the hook or tongue ci need not actually engage with the edge vof the aperture as, and an indentation may serve as an inferior equivalent of the said aperture. In all cases, however, the end of the tongue a shown extends below the plane of the upper surface of the blank at the aperture or indentation, thus preventing the insertion of any instrument below the tongue by means of which it might be pressed upward in an attempt to disengage the parts.

It is obvious that after having thus described myimprovements many modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention, which consists, essentially, in constructing a car-seal with an additional tongue, or its equivalent,

which acts as a guard to prevent the picking of the principal lock of the seal. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

1. A car-seal comprising an inclosing box open at one end, a strip attached to the box and having one end extending into said box toward the closed end thereof, a holdinghook at or near the other end of the strip adapted to engage over said iirst-mentioned end, and a guard-tongue projecting from the facev of the hook end of the strip beyond the opposing face of the other end of the strip between said holdinghook and the open end of the box, said tongue extending toward the open end of the box and serving as a guard Yfor the holding-hook,y substantially as described. l 2. A car-seal comprising an inclosing box lopen at one end, and a strip of suitable material attached to the box and having one end extending into said box toward the closed end,

and having a holdinghook and a` guardtonguefforrned upon the other end and both extending toward the open endof the box, said holding-hook adapted to engage the other end of the strip and' said guard-tongue proy jecting froml the'face of the end on which it is formed beyond the opposing face of the other end between the holding-hook and the open end ofl the box, substantially as described.

3. A car-seal comprising a strip of suitable vmaterial having formed upon one end a holding-hook and a guard-tongue each projecting toward the other end of the strip, and upon the other end of the strip means for engaging said tongue, and wings provided at or near one end of the strip and adapted to be turned up to form a box inclosing the interlocking parts, substantially as described.

4. A car-seal comprising an inclosing box, a. strip secured near one end to one side of said box and having a perforated spring engaging portion Within the box normally deflected toward the opposite side of the box, a holding-hook at the other end of said strip adapted to engage with said spring portion, and a guard-tongue near the hook end of said strip and adapted to enter the perforation in said engaging portion and serve as a guard to preventthe disengagement of the holdinghook, substantially as described. y

- THOMAS FILDES.

Witnesses:

LEoNoRA WISEMAN,

BEssIE SHADBOLT. 

